PayThink

Thirty-seven years ago this month, the failure of a small German bank sent shock waves through the system, costing banks from New York to Singapore some $620 million in losses.The collapse of Bankhaus Herstatt in Cologne made the front page of the June 27, 1974, issue of American Banker, which we've republished today on our 175 anniversary Flashback site. While technology has made a repeat of this particular transcontinental foreign-exchange debacle unlikely, the broader theme of contagion is as salient as ever.

The Senate's refusal to allow for a critical study into the full impact of the Durbin amendment delivers a crushing blow to Main Street America. Often we hear politicians speak of Main Street as the backbone of society, making community banks the pillars for national economic stability, yet Congress is now ushering in an era of increased failure and consolidation of community banks in favor of big box retailers, bringing an already sluggish economic recovery to a crawl.

Re: "Geithner Blames SBLF Delays on Bank Regulators"

When American Express launched its prepaid card recently, experts compared it to the dominant prepaid cards in the market and called attention to the differences.

Re "Shiller on Why Valuing Banks' Real Estate Holdings Is 'Simmering Problem' "

"If only we could see the whole relationship on one screen" is the lament of every executive dedicated to raising the bank's cross-sell ratios.

A total of 360,083 North American Citigroup credit card accounts were affected by a recent breach of customer's names, emails, account numbers and transaction histories. This is a breach that could have been avoided by inserting simple access controls.

The banking industry is getting more scrutiny. That scrutiny can and should include a look at who is in charge.

The political effort to derail the Durbin amendment has been driven by a cynical and false argument that small banks that are exempt from the regulation, nonetheless, will ultimately be forced to receive the lower regulated rates.

What major banking stories from the last 175 years would you like to see from our archives?